Santa Claus is probably struggling over whether to put a lump of coal — well, at least a small one — in Dax Shepard‘s stocking this holiday.

The actor and Armchair Expert podcast host, who’s married to The Good Place star and newly named Golden Globe nominee Kristen Bell, is endlessly giving to good causes. However, he did something that the big guy certainly won’t like.

“This is going to be very controversial,” Shepard told Us Weekly on Monday at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, on yet another charitable outing. “I have a fundamental rule that I will never lie to [daughters Lincoln, 5, and Delta, who turns 4 on Dec. 19], which is challenging at times. Our 5-year-old started asking questions like, ‘Well, this doesn’t make sense, and that doesn’t make sense.’ I’m like, ‘You know what? This is just a fun thing we pretend while it’s Christmas.'”

Yep, he said it. But it’s not like the Shepard-Bell home is completely devoid of any Kris Kringle joy. In fact it sounds downright merry.